Introduction

· DC Talk quote-Jesus Freak

There was a man from the desert with naps in his head

The sand that he walked was also his bed

The words that he spoke made the people assume

There wasn't too much left in the upper room

With skins on his back and hair on his face

They thought he was strange by the locusts he ate

The Pharisee's tripped when they heard him speak

Until the king took the head of this Jesus freak

· Who? John the Baptist. Now, I told Charlotte that I was going to change the title of this sermon to John the Methodist, but that wouldn’t be true to the biblical text. However, there’s a better option than John the Baptist—John the Baptizer(βαπτιστὴς—one who dips/baptizes). Now if you hear me call him John the Baptist at any point in this message, please ignore it—just an old habit.

· Jn 1:6-8 (NASB95) There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

· An intriguing character. His attire: camel hide. His domicile: the desert. His diet: locusts and wild honey. His manner: a blunt and fiery preacher—to the Sadducees and Pharisees—“you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Mt. 3:7). Some have thought he was an Essene—the sect associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls. Though the evidence isn’t strong enough for a very convincing conclusion.

· John had claimed the passage we considered last Sunday: Isaiah 40:3—a voice crying out in the wilderness. We many not live in the desert like John but, in many ways we live in the wilderness—a spiritual wasteland. Just pick up the News Star—tune in to KNOE—take a walk through Wal-Mart, Pecanland Mall—drive down some of the streets around here. People are struggling for survival in this spiritual wilderness and they need to see the Light.

· God has called you to be a witness in the wilderness.

· If you're going to be what God wants you to be you must know the three things John knew:

1. Who you are (Identity)

· Gary Stokely--Sociology 201--big lecture hall in GTM. Bunch of folks in there. I didn't like Stokley and I didn't like his class--I was an accounting major and I was about business, not sociology--thought it was a waste of time. Truth was--I was a dumb college student and could've benefited from the class more than just the A if I'd had my head screwed on straight. Anyway . . . One day Dr. Stokely gave us this (dumb) assignment. All we had to do was answer one question: Who am I. At first blush it seemed easy, but I have to say it was one of hardest things I had ever done. Who am I? Son of . . . Live . . . But really . . . Who am I?

· John had a clear grasp of his identity—he knew who he was—he was one:

· Sent by God (aποστέλλω) That's it!! Sent . . . We are all sent—every one here in this place this a.m. is an apostle. Emissaries of God or as Paul put it: Ambassadors of Christ.

· Now John was a big deal. Folks flocked to him—followed him around.

· BKC- Some evidence suggests that the movement begun by John the Baptist continued after his death and even after the death and resurrection of Jesus (4:1; cf. Mark 6:29; Luke 5:33). Twenty years after Jesus’ resurrection (cf. Acts 18:25; 19:1-7) Paul found about 12 disciples of John the Baptist in Ephesus. A Mandaean sect still continues south of Baghdad which, though hostile to Christianity, claims an ancestral link to the Baptist.

· John could’ve let it go to his head—and have a huge, swelled-up head and think he was THE real deal in the kingdom. But that never happened. He knew his place, and he was fully subservient. It was all about Jesus, not John. See also Jn 3:30 (NASB95) “He must increase, but I must decrease.

· Know not just who you are—Mr. or Mrs. Blah-Blah-Blah, but rather who you are in relation to God/Jesus. SERVANT!! NOT MASTER!! God is Boss. Not us.

· But you need to know more than just who you are. You must know . . .

2. What you're doing here (Mission/Assignment)

· A voice in the wilderness

· To testify concerning the Light (Both noun and verb: μαρτυρία and μαρτυρέω)

· Witness. What does a witness do? What is their function? To tell the story—to communicate their experience. I saw that woman run that red light and plow head-on into that minivan. I was standing in the parking lot of the Kangaroo, and that fellow with the mask went in and robbed the place. A witness tells a story—their story.

· One good witness can make the difference in a case—in convincing others of the truth.

· O.J. Simpson I'm sure you saw last week that OJ was sentenced for his Vegas escapade. LAS VEGAS – A weary and beaten-looking O.J. Simpson was put away Friday for at least nine years – and perhaps the rest of his life – for an armed robbery in a hotel room, bringing a measure of satisfaction to those who believed the football star got away with murder more than a decade ago. The 61-year-old Hall of Famer listened stone-faced, his wrists in shackles, as Judge Jackie Glass pronounced the sentence – 33 years behind bars with eligibility for parole after less than a third of that. I'll never forget the murder trial. Johnnie Cochran and his line about the bloody glove: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." And we all know the outcome. OJ walked. Wonder what would the verdict would've been had there been just one really credible person who SAW him kill Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. How would things have turned out then?

· Three questions about what you’re doing here—your part in testifying concerning the Light of Christ:

a) How credible are you as a witness?

What is your personal testimony? When's the last time you considered it? What if you were put on the spot right now and asked to stand and tell how God saved you? What’s your story? That’s what it’s all about—your story of what God has done in your life.

· Jn 9:24-25 (NIV) A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

b) How willing are you as a witness?

Leon Morris: Witness establishes the truth. It does more. It commits a man. If I take my stand in the witness box and testify that such-and-such is the truth of the matter I am no longer neutral. I have committed myself.
Have you taken the stand and told the truth about Jesus? Have you committed yourself as his witness ? Or are you trying to remain neutral?
Mission Impossible with Peter Graves (James Phelps). Most recently Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt). Device that relayed the mission--obviously more sophisticated in the recent MI movies than in the original series. In the original series, the message played on a mini tape went something like this: Hello Mr. Phelps, Your mission, should you choose to accept it . . . This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.
First of all, this book won't self-destruct at all—In fact, folks have been trying to destroy it for centuries to no avail. The message stands—the mission's in our faces and Two: we really don't have a choice. We may ignore the mission which is what? Disobedience. But the truth is we've been commanded to fulfill the mission. Back to that Servant-Master thing. Who's in charge here? Not you, not me, not the DS, not the bishop—ultimately it's the Lord, and he has commissioned each of us to bear witness to the light of Christ. So, to give it to you straight-up: you can’t hang on the fence. You’re either obediently bearing witness or you aren’t.

c) How focused are you on your role as a witness?

General George Patton would often ask soldiers, “What is your mission?” Being able to articulate clearly the current mission was the most important piece of information a soldier could carry in combat.
I’m convinced that we get so caught up with the goings on of the church that we forget our mission—the mission get’s lost in the machinery of the church.

3. Why you're supposed to be doing it (Purpose/Goal)

· Why?

· We're supposed to doing it in obedience to the command of Jesus, of course, but there's more to it: that all might believe through him/us (πιστεύω)

· All. Not just a few handpicked individuals. Not just people like us. Not just "good" folks. Everyone. No, you and I can't personally bear witness to every soul on the planet. However, we CAN be part of the process--the kingdom work--bearing witness to the world that there truly is a light in the midst of this dark spiritual wilderness--his name is Jesus!

· There are so many who don't believe!! And THEY are what it's about.

· Flight 401 was bound for Miami from New York City with a load of holiday passengers. As the huge aircraft approached the Miami Airport for its landing, a light that indicates proper deployment of the landing gear failed to come on. The plane flew in a large, looping circle over the swamps of the Everglades while the cockpit crew checked out the light failure. Their question was this, had the landing gear actually not deployed or was it just the light bulb that was defective. To begin with, the flight engineer fiddled with the bulb. He tried to remove it, but it wouldn’t budge. Another member of the crew tried to help out … and then another. By and by, if you can believe it, all eyes were on the little light bulb that refused to be dislodged from its socket. No one noticed that the plane was losing altitude. Finally, it dropped right into a swamp. Many were killed in that plane crash. While an experienced crew of high-priced and seasoned pilots messed around with a seventy-five-cent light bulb, an entire airplane and many of its passengers were lost. The crew momentarily forgot the most basic of all rules of the air—“Don’t forget to fly the airplane!”

· We worry over budgets and buildings. We hold meeting after meeting. We plan calendars and hold events.

· But listen—hear this!! Doing all the above is OK as long as the above leads to the goal—bearing witness—SO THAT ALL MIGHT BELIEVE.

Addendum

· Now, did John ever get discouraged? Did he experience doubt at any point? You bet. John had a crisis of belief. He was in prison.

· Mt 11:1-6 (NASB95) When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

· If you follow on through Matthew 11, you find that Jesus didn’t condemn John at all. When you and I get discouraged, this passage is a good place to turn—to remind us of Jesus and his power.

Conclusion

You know there are so many things that are important in our lives—our families—our friends—our church—our funds or lack thereof— the economy— taxes, etc. But these three questions are absolutely critical: Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you supposed to be doing it? We each need to answer them correctly. It's not too late to get the right answers and heed those answers—to be like John—to a voice crying out in the wilderness so that people might come to Christ.